London 2012 Olympics: rowing guide

Read Telegraph Sport's guide to the rowing event at the London 2012 Olympics.

Boats race in six lanes along a 2,000m flat-water course, and the first one
across the line wins. At London
2012 it will take eight days to get through the 14 different classes,
featuring 550 rowers.

There are two types of Olympic rowing, both with heavyweight and lightweight
divisions: sweep, where rowers use a single oar, and sculling where they use
two. Sweep rowers compete in crews of two, four or eight, while scullers go
it alone, in doubles or in quads.

Boats – or shells – come with or without a cox, who directs the boat and
steers the rowers. There are eight medals in total for men and six for
women.

Crews will compete first in heats, with the best boats going through to the
next round. However, for the boats that do not make it through automatically
there is a second chance to qualify in the repechage round. The best boats
eventually progress through the various stages and into the finals of each
event, which decide the medallists.

Gold medals available

14

You don’t have to be super-skilled to be good at rowing; there’s basically
just one simple sequence of movements to learn in order to master the
technique.

The hard part is repeating that sequence, up to 40 times a minute, for six or
more minutes. Strength and endurance are obviously essential. If you are
rowing in a crew, synchronisation and teamwork are also necessary.

Boats normally try and start off as quickly as they possibly can, then settle
into their highest sustainable pace, before sprinting to the end. There’s an
advantage in leading from the front because you can keep an eye on your
opponents coming up behind you.

Also, before we forget, size does in fact matter in rowing. In 2007 Dr Niels
Secher, an exercise scientist at the University of Copenhagen, was able to
predict the speed of rowers accurately to one per cent based on their body
size and weight of their boat.

He found that taller, more muscular rowers (often over 6ft 3in and 15st) with
low levels of body fat were able to get more oxygen in their muscles and
generate more power.

What to say

“The Germans are going full paddle now but they still can’t catch the British
boat.”

What not to say

“The little fella sat at the back isn’t pulling his weight.”

If it were a TV show it would be

Different Strokes

In total, rowing has earned Britain 22 gold medals, 18 silvers and eight
bronzes with Sir Steve Redgrave winning gold medals at five straight Games:
in 1984 in the coxed four, 1988 in the pair with Andy Holmes, 1992 and 1996
in the pair with Matthew Pinsent and 2000 in the coxless four.

Men’s rowing was slated to appear in the first modern games in 1896 but the
weather was so bad it was canned. It has appeared at every Games since
though women’s rowing was not introduced until Montreal in 1976. Lightweight
rowing for men and women appeared 20 years later at Atlanta.

Jargon:

Catch a crab: To make a faulty stroke.Bow-side: The starboard side of the boat, ie the right-hand side of a
cox facing forwards, and the left-hand side of a rower facing backwards.Repechage: Race that takes place after the heats for those who didn't
qualify. It is a second chance to make it to the finals.

Legends

Elisabeta Lipă from Romania competed in six Olympic Games and won eight medals
including five golds, two silver and a bronze. But the greatest name is our
very own Knight, Sir Steve Redgrave.

Random fact

Rowing has produced what is believed to be the youngest Olympic gold medallist
ever. A young Dutch boy pulled from the crowd at the Paris 1900 Games acted
as a cox for the Dutch pairs crew, who went on to win. His name and age were
never recorded, but photographs suggest he was seven to nine years old.

Official sites

Defending Champions: Team GB's Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter will be hoping to win gold again in the lightweight double scullsPhoto: Getty Images

How many medals targeted by Team GB?

UK Sport have targeted six medals from the rowing team.

Where are the chances?

The women’s pair the debutant duo of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning head to
the Olympics as favourites after a series of great World Cup performances.
In the women’s double skull Katherine Grainger has won three silver medals
and will be hoping that with her partner Anna Watkins she can capture the
elusive gold.

The men’s four of Alex Gregory, Tom James, Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge
are contenders for gold if they can hold off Australia. The Lightweight
Men’s Double Scull of Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase are reigning Olympic
champions and although their form has not been as good as hoped for in the
warm up to the Olympics the home crowd could help them defend their title.

Brits to watch?

Look out for 40-year-old Greg Searle, who won Olympic gold 20 years ago in
Barcelona and a bronze in 1996, who is rowing in London despite being out of
competition for nine years.

History will also be made as Britain’s first Muslim rower takes to the water.
Moe Sbihi has been picked for the men’s eight and has decided to donate
1,800 meals to poor people to compensate for the fact that he will not be
able to participate in Ramadan as it clashes with the Games.

Biggest international rivals?

America, Germany, New Zealand and Australia will be the toughest competition
in the water. The big battle is in the men’s four where rivalry between the
British and Australian crews is intense.